Thomas Kenneth Prebble (November 1945 – 17 January 2021) was a New Zealand educationalist and university administrator.

Biography

Born in Sussex, England, on 29 November 1945, Prebble was the son of Anglo-Catholic Anglican clergyman Kenneth Ralph Prebble and Mary Prebble (née Hoad). He moved to New Zealand in 1948 with his parents, older brother John, and younger brother

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

, when his father became vicar of Northcote parish in Auckland. John Prebble became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

and professor of law at

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

, Richard Prebble became a politician, and their younger brother,

Mark Prebble Mark Prebble (born 1951) is a former New Zealand civil servant. He was the State Services Commissioner, head of New Zealand's public service from May 2004 until 30 June 2008. On 25 January 2008, Prebble announced his retirement after 32 years i ...

, became the senior public servant of New Zealand. After a PhD in education administration, completed in 1975 at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

in Canada, Prebble was appointed a senior lecturer in the Department of Education at Massey University in

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

, New Zealand. In 1986, he became the director of extramural studies at Massey, and in 1999 he was appointed the university's inaugural principal extramural and international. In 2002, he stood down from his administrative roles at Massey and was appointed to the Department of Social and Policy Studies in Education, retiring in 2004. He was promoted to full professor in 1994, and was conferred with the title of

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

on his retirement. Prebble was involved in establishing Massey's postgraduate programme in educational administration, the first in New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2015, he was a board member and director of

Ako Aotearoa Ako or AKO may refer to: Candace Places *Akō, Hyōgo, a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan *Akō District, Hyōgo, a district located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan *Ako, Cameroon, a town in Cameroon *Ako, the Japanese name of Alexandrovsk- ...

, the national centre for tertiary teaching excellence, and he also served on the councils of

Otago Polytechnic Otago Polytechnic was a public New Zealand tertiary education institute, centred in Dunedin with additional campuses in Cromwell and Auckland. Otago Polytechnic provided career-focused education and training, offering a range of New Zealand accr ...

and UCOL. He was elected a Fellow of the New Zealand Educational Administration Society in 1994. In the 2019 New Zealand Honours, Prebble was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to tertiary education. He died in Palmerston North on 17 January 2021, aged 75.

References

1945 births 2021 deaths People from Sussex English emigrants to New Zealand University of Alberta alumni Massey University faculty New Zealand educational theorists Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit {{NewZealand-bio-stub